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Comments from Signatories

Comments From New York
Principals and others who signed the paper

Principal

I am puzzled how an
evaluation system has been developed without the input from the evaluators. I
fully support the use of rubrics in lesson and teacher evaluations, but to assign
a "foilable" numerical value can potentially destroy years and even
decades of developed professionalism and good will amongst faculty and
supervisors. Such relationships are critically important to the structure of a
positive learning environment. I hope we can move forward with the big idea in
mind---doing what is best for our learners.

Principal

I am proud to support this
position paper. The ideas and concepts contained in it represent the collective
wisdom of our organization and all that we know, all that we believe, and all
that we represent. Unless the present course of action is stopped and
redirected, the very future of public education in our State is threatened. It
doesn't have to be this way!!! We can and should do better. We are ready, willing
and most able to help. Please let us!

Superintendent of Schools

My wisdom and experience of
33 years as a Superintendent of Schools tell me that the APPR legislation is
seriously flawed, regressive and is not enforceable. It is politically driven.
Good policy makes good politics. But, good politics does not necessarily make
good policy. APPR is not good policy and is not good politics. It must be
redesigned at best or repealed at worst.

Teacher union president

I am a union president, not a
principal and I concur with the contents of this letter. I appreciate the work
of this group of principals and look forward to a remedy to this madness.

A NYC teacher

Dear Long Island Principals,

Thank you , for your bravery,
wisdom, and organization in getting this letter written and distributed. I hope
to spread the word to my colleagues, so that they can sign as well. We are in a
school that is piloting this evaluation, and even though nothing is official,
it is extremely confusing, overwhelming, and stress-producing. Not to mention
that our contractual rights are being ignored in many ways. But everyone is
very quiet and seems afraid to speak up. "

Teacher

The APPR is taking away from
my prep time to do my school work for the next day or week. I could be using this time to prepare for my
week classes. Also I use my prep school
time to do the APPR when I could be correcting papers or planning for the next
week, etc. I am a professional and I
feel I do not have to document everything that I do. My students performance tells me. My evidence- I only had one student not pass
my course and that grade was a 61%. Most
of my students are in the 72% to 100% percentile for an average in my class. So
in conclusion, my kids are doing what they should be doing for their grade
level. I am going beyond to meet my kids performance levels.

Have a great day and lets get
back to the kids and not all this busy work.
I have enough during the day, week and year too do. Let me teach!

Teacher

As a professional I realize
the importance of change and why change is needed. Unfortunately, the way in which these changes
are being made is negatively impacting the children of New York State. The way these changes are being implemented
goes against everything we know about education and makeing sound
decisions. I'm worried about the
children in our school district as a parent and an educator. Who's steering this ship?

Teacher

As President of the [xxx]
Mathematics Teachers' Association I am 100% behind the effort of the principals
involved with this campaign. It is
ludicrous to think that the collective performance of children on a
standardized exam can have any effect on a teacher's evaluation. I support the recommendation that everyone
would be best served if the entire building is given a rating, as opposed to
individual teachers and administrators. :

It will become a competition
amongst educators. The collegial sharing
of ideas and lessons will end. Teachers
will no longer volunteer to take on the students who need the most help.
Teacher

Teacher

As a special education
teacher, I am concerned with how APPR will impact the field of special
education. We have come so far in
recognizing the needs of our students and educating them alongside their peers
as much as possible, but when I hear other teachers say, ""I won't
teach in an integrated class anymore if ALL of the students' scores impact my
effectiveness"", I feel very sad.
That was not the intent of APPR, but it certainly has become a very ugly
unintended consequence. Please strongly
consider the recommendations put forth in this position paper!

Parent

What a well thought out
coherent policy statement that addresses the concern all parents and educators
should have regarding this issue. While everyone needs to be evaluated, the
evaluation needs to make sense. If you
fire people based on an inappropriate tool, it is an unjust system similar to
firing salespeople whose sales decline during a recession or depression. You cannot isolate performance from the other
forces that influence a child's life. So
many children are living in families that are experiencing economic stress,
addiction, mental health issues, divorce and separation, etc. All of these
factors influence how a child performs.
We need to be cognizant that children are not automatons and teachers
are not always going to be successful no matter how competent and passionate
they are about their job.

There are too many other
factors that contribute to overall student achievement in school for the state
to hold teachers completely accountable for student test scores. The new APPR proposals are unfair especially
to teachers who work hard to support their students in higher need districts. There is too much testing, time and resources
being used to implement state mandates.
Teachers and students are being used so there is less learning happening
and more screening and testing. Students
have less opportunities to think creatively because they are being taught to
the tests. Another example of the negative
effects of the new APPR proposals is that prospective future educators are leaving their college
educational programs because they are aware of what is happening and do not
want to be faced with the pressure.

Teacher

Please foresee the negative
effects these APPR proposals will have on the future of education in New York
State. Please help provide more learning
resources for students instead of forcing school districts to waste the money
on these unnecessary mandates. Thank
you.

Teacher

The APPR is promoting poor
teaching practices in order to raise test scores.

Superintendent

I endorse the position in
this letter. Reform is not accomplished
with the wave of a magic wand. Genuine
reform must be systemic and that takes
time and effort. Right now NYS is
engaged in a reductionist approach to teaching and learning.

Assistant Superintendent

Although NYS has 'won' Race
to the Top funds, the students of NYS are the losers. Teachers who fear poor performance by a
student may not recommend a challenging course or may encourage a struggling
student to drop a challenging course; thus closing academic doors and limiting
the potential for career or college opportunities.

As the school librarian/media
specialist, I see all grades regularly.
I see that at all grade levels, K - 5, units which teachers have always
taught are either being drastically shortened or jettisoned altogether due to
the large numbers of local assessments being developed and field tested. More and more is being crammed into an already
packed finite time period and something has to give. What a pity that it is those things which an
individual teacher might be passionate about which are discarded, just to make
room for even more assessments. That
does not even address the question as to whether teachers can or should be
themselves evaluated by their students' scores on these assessments. The assessments are obstacles to education,
not education. Librarian

Counselor

I am a parent, teacher, and
school counselor. Currently I counsel
at-risk youth at a non-secure detention center in Niagara County, less than
part time. My primary focus is my 3
children and their education coupled with their emotional growth. I am becoming ever informed of NYS
governmental infringements and hindrance in my children's education. I sit on a Solutions Committee at school and
have voiced my disapproval in regards to this new wave of Race to the Top
testing which will only prove to be costly, invalid due to variables not being
tested, and highly stressful for children and teachers alike. I was directed towards your website and I
will be a voice here in Niagara County for more parents to become informed in
hopes they will voice their disapproval via this website. Thank you for laying such impressive groundwork
and data. If there is anything I can do
to assist you in this effort please contact me via my email.

Aspiring teacher

I am an undergraduate student
at Vanderbilt University majoring in Special Education and Elementary
Education. Due to the new teacher evaluation system, Williamson County, which
is an affluent school district in Tennessee, is banning student teachers from
teaching core academic content areas in high schools. The trend may soon follow
for elementary schools as well.

Principal

Student learning and student
achievement are first and foremost in the minds of the overwhelming majority of
teachers and administrators on Long Island.
To base evaluations on assessments that were designed to measure students'
achievement and not teacher effectiveness is shocking. How are we going to be evaluating fairly
those teachers in areas that there are not NYS tests. Why wasn't this piloted first? I hope a more equitable system will be
created with input from the distinguished educators throughout the State.

Teacher

The outcome of a child's
performance on a single day does not justify the competency of the teacher. The
factors that contribute to the outcome of the test are extremely variable: did
the child sleep well, does the child receive support and assistance from the
parents at home, is English spoken at home, is the child from a stable
environment, does the child have proper nutrition for cognitive success, does
the child have learning disabilities or challenges or suffer from test
anxiety...and so on.

The principal, through their
observations and contact with teachers, should be responsible for the school's
success, as long as the administrator's have access to the assistance that is
needed to support the teaching staff to ensure the success of each child.

Assistant principal

The amount of work put into
evaluations his drastically increased.
Time for other things (programming, welfare of individual kids, etc.)
has been severely strained.

Teacher

APPR will only result in
higher cost to the taxpayer due to increase in amount of work for
administrators and the hiring of more administrators to cover the increased
work load and storage of appr materials for years on end. Who is making money
on this mandate? The publishers?

No one works well in an environment of fear
which has led to college students choosing other careers. If you making
teaching miserable only the miserable teachers will stay. If you want to
attract the best and the brightest teachers, treat them like they are the best
and brightest. Give teachers respect and power they deserve.

Teacher

I am the president of the
1200 member [xx]Federation of United School Employees (NYSUT Local), and I
applaud your articulate, well researched and compelling letter opposing the
mis-use of state assessments and the rushed, inept process followed by the SED
to implement flawed legislation.

Teacher

The proposed changes will pit
teacher against teacher. Gone will be
the people who seek out the most difficult students. Those students will become
pawns to be traded from class to class.
Disadvantaged students will be seen as a detriment to a teacher's evaluation.
In a school such as mine, where there is a disproportionate number of such
students, the effects will be disastrous. At this point, we have teachers who
pride themselves on the academic growth of all the students in their
care....teachers who hold the hand of such students and patiently lead them in
the right direction. With the proposed changes and with their employment on the
line, the dynamics of the student/teacher relationship is sure to change in a
negative way.

The global approach would set
the stage for improved accountability without stigmatizing individual students.

Teacher

As a teacher, taxpayer and
parent in NY, I am incredibly concerned with the effects of this new
legislation on the state of education in NY. I have seriously considered
removing myself and my children from NY state in recent months as a result of
these poorly designed policies that appear clearly intended to shift much
needed money from the schools and teacher and into the coffers of industry. I
for one won't stand around and take this. I can and will leave this
dysfunctional environment before I allow this legislation to hurt my family.

Parent

I do not support the use of
standardized testing to measure student, teacher, or a school's performance.
The overuse of standardized testing has taken valuable instruction time away
from students. No Child Left Behind was the beginning of a steady downslide in
student performance in the US. We should be looking at top performing countries
like Finland where they do not rely on standardized tests but instead invest
time and money to develop teachers. Finnish teachers are highly trained and
well compensated - it is more difficult to gain admission to a graduate program
in education in Finland than it is to gain entry into medical or law school.
The US continues to move in a direction that is further eroding the quality of
education and this legislation will hurt both students and teachers.

District Chairperson

NYS staff should visit
schools to see how this legislation is creating excessive tension in our
schools among all staff members and administrators. The work load is reaching
excessive levels. There has been not time to process or plan for this
legislation.

School Board Member

Thank you to Long Island
principals for taking the lead in this effort to hold the State
accountable. Our students, teachers and
administrators all deserve better.

Teacher

I have been for fair and
meaningful accountability all along.
Historically, as a high performing school, PS [XX] has scored Well
Developed and Outstanding in the most recent Quality Reviews taking pride in
comprehensive professional development and monitoring student progress. However, since we entered Race to the Top,
the emphasis on student testing and, at the same time, teacher data reports
coming from the State and the City have started dominating the school’s
agenda. Now, the new teacher evaluation
system that is being introduced by the State, the City, and the Talent
Management Pilot Program, does not take into consideration the time and effort
our community has invested in establishing high quality educational programs
and student achievement. The new teacher
evaluation system is based on test scores and educational philosophy not
research-based methodology. Communities
like ours are disregarded by the new evaluation system for all the work we have
done so far to provide high quality teaching and learning. We are heading toward testing overriding
quality teaching; the teaching profession has been undermined and devalued by
policy makers and leadership disconnected from day-t-day school life.

Teacher

Thank you for what you are
doing. I'm sure there is a lot of
pressure about doing this, but something must be done. It just keeps getting worse.

Having been in the elementary
schools the past 10 years, I can see the futility of so much testing and
instruction with the tests in mind.
Thank you again and good luck.

Principal

I completely agree with the
Position paper as presented by the Principals on Long Island. Implementing the Common Core Standards that
emphasize cognitive engagement, constructivist learning, 21st century skills,
and depth of knowledge, while at the same time understanding Multiple
Intelligences, learning styles, quadrants of the brain, IEP's, and that all
students learn differently requires that I oppose NYS evaluation system, its
philosophy and theory, as well as NYS political and economic agenda. As an educator I cannot support a system that
requires students, who all learn differently, to have the same level of
academic achievement at the end of a given year. Furthermore, I cannot support a system that
seeks to supplant common sense for politics, and the economic advantage of a
few, mainly publishers, to further the political agenda of our incompetent
lawmakers.

Teacher

It is time that ALL of New
York State educators speak out against these reforms that will do more harm
than good for our students. What Commissioner King fails to recognize is that
it is quite damaging to declare "We must do better." This belittles
the efforts of thousands of teachers who strive to "do better"
everyday with minimal resources and even less recognition of their efforts,
time, and commitment.

Teacher

As a veteran fourth grade
teacher, I strongly support the points presented in this paper. Children and teachers should not be relegated
to numbers. Not only are the current NYS
ELA and Math tests extraordinarily flawed, but they do not reflect the
achievement of the students. To make the state tests "harder," all
that was done was to make the material inappropriate to grade 4 level. That is why the math scores in NYS are lower
- it is because the test content is inappropriate. Fourth graders can not master the abstract
concept of equivalent fractions and decimals until grade 5, and yet these units
are incorporated into the fourth grade NYS math test. Furthermore, as a Ph.D. in American History
from Columbia University, I was unable to read the over abundant passages on
the new ELA exams, which encompasses 70 minutes. How many fourth graders are
developmentally ready to sit for that long? I do not know who is making these
changes in student assessment and teacher evaluation, but that committee should
be fired. How can we bring critical
thinking and creative projects to our curriculum, if all we have to do is use
the $32, 000,000 earmarked to Pearson Publishing Company for state testing. Can
these funds be used more expeditiously to teach our students? I should think so!
Something is dramatically wrong with this recent wave in education with student
assessment and teacher evaluation and this trend must be stopped!!!

Teacher

As a teacher who has been in
the education business for 27 years, I am angry and frustrated that our
government spends money so easily and quickly without deep thought on
educational issues. I have seen so many
rushed programs that must be implemented only to be dropped a few years later. This waste of valuable time, effort and money
sickens me. I can only add that you will drive good teachers out of education
with the never ending assault on teachers and this APPR is another foolish
example of not thinking and rushing a program in so that school districts chase
the government incentive money. Race to
the Top...I want to race for the door!

Principal

This "build it while it
is flying" approach to creating a new design for supervision and
evaluation makes all educators look unprepared and sloppy. A very unfair scar on thousands of principals
across the state who had little or no role in creating this new process. It further destroys the credibility of the
NYSED, when they should be there to inspire, support and fund the many schools
that are still recovering from the terrific cuts in state aid from the past
three years.

Teacher

As a teacher of fifteen
years, I am saddened and disgusted by these attempts to corporatize and profit
from education. Teacher experience in
these matters is ignored. We are vilified
and blamed for all the problems in education.
[XXX} who champion a
one-size-fits-all approach like the Common Core are a big part of the problem
with our schools. By emphasizing
accountability they are missing the whole point. Teachers are not motivated to do well by fear
of losing their jobs; they are motivated by a love for learning, teaching and a
genuine concern for the children they teach. We would be better served if we
abolished all standardized testing completely, invested all the money saved
into hiring more teachers, and then gave those teachers the tools to come up
with the solutions to teaching in their classrooms. And by tools I mean books, technology,
libraries, field trips, music programs, science fairs, etc. and NOT staff
development days, guest lecturers who admonish us not to fear change every time
we turn around and grad students with six figure incomes who condescend to tell
us how to teach.

Teacher

As a teacher and local union
president, I applaud your desire to improve student achievement. I do however have an issue with you using
unfunded mandates, an APPR process that is has not been tested or piloted, and
increasing the work load of both teachers and administrators, while we are
working with 25% fewer educators in our district because of layoffs due to inequitable
state funding. There is no
"fat" at [XXX], we cannot trim anymore!

Teacher

I feel it is unfair for the
education department to pass down direction for teacher/principal evaluation
that is based, solely or in part, on student test score performance. Tests
which are flawed to begin with, cannot possibly give an accurate view of the
abilities of a teacher in the classroom let alone determine the worth of the
administrator in any school.

The current format also
creates a chasm amongst the faculty because not everyone is being subjected to
the same scrutiny. In tandem APPR creates an undesirable environment for good,
hard working and proven teachers/principals who have several years of
experience. It could be predicted that
this new working condition will cause quality teachers and administrators to
change careers midstream and/or prevent promising young educators to embark
upon a career in education at all.

Teacher

The regulations for the new
APPR system are going to achieve nothing in the evaluation of teaching
faculty. It will continue to hinder the
real reform we need in public schools across this state. Value added models were never created to be
the basis for academic success based upon narrow search criteria. Teacher effectiveness is both and art and a
science. Real reform comes from
development of teaching professionals, such as the National Board Certification
process. This is the area that New York
should push for classroom teachers.

Teacher

Effective teaching combines
art and science and emotion and cognition in ways that can never be reflected
on a spread sheet. Rating an educator under these new regulations will
compromise the "humanity" that allows brilliant teachers to be
innovative, loving, and progressive.

Principal

If anything is a distraction
to the learning process, it is the number of times teachers are removed from
the classroom for ""testing/scoring"" responsibilities as
well the insane number of times principals are OFF school grounds for wasteful training.

Testing and poorly processed State initiatives
rate as one of the GREATEST barriers to learning.

Teacher

A well thought out model that
puts the needs of students first rather than piling more assessments onto their
already overstressed lives is needed.
Plans for what to do with subject areas currently without formal
assessment, such as elementary music, art, PE, library arts is needed. I am in support of thorough assessment of
teachers that takes all areas of their professional success and areas in need
of improvement into account. However,
APPR as spelled out currently would be over stressing the already understaffed
schools due to the financial restraints of the past few years, and could
potentially give an inaccurate representation of what students and teachers are
capable of.

Professor

I am pleased to see a document, such as this, which speaks to
something as important as our education system that uses proper scientific
citing of bona fide papers on the subject as opposed to emotional arguments meant
to sway voters or think-tank "papers" from thinly (or otherwise)
veiled lobby groups whose intent is NOT the betterment of our educational
system but rather the increase of funneling of tax-payer dollars away from
socially responsible infrastructures (like education) and towards already
wealthy private corporations.

Teacher

I strongly urge NYS to
reconsider standardized testing practices.
If you look at the current brain research, you will find that there are
many forms of intelligence. Not all students
learn at the same rate nor in the same manner.
A one day test should not determine whether or not a student is
""prepared for the future"". We should be looking at the entire individual
and to see if they are a well-rounded person.

I do not believe the citizens
of NYS want their children to be tested so frequently and to have those tests
weighed so heavily. We are wasting too
much money on these tests and now we are looking for different ways to correct
those same tests. These tests take away
from real higher level learning.

PTA president

Our PTSA voted unanimously to
support your recommendations.

Professor

Teachers and administrators
are placed in an impossible position by this policy. They are forced to do what they know to be
harmful to children or else suffer severe consequences. It is a cynical policy that has sold out our
children and public education in order to get a few dollars from the Feds
through RTTT. This policy is practically
unworkable (every principal I've spoken with says it will make it impossible to
do their jobs), and there is no evidence or research to support this approach
to assessment. This is especially absurd
when the state declared this the policy before the agreed upon piloting was
done. The people who are most in favor of this policy are people farthest from
the classrooms. It is a sham and a
shame.

Parent

Not all children take tests
the same way. My daughter was never able
to excel at standardized tests. The pressure always made her nervous and she
rushed through them making careless mistakes. She excelled in the classroom,
ended high school with a 3.92 GPA is is now happy and doing well in college. To
think her teachers, who taught her well would have been given a bad evaluation
based on her test schools is outrageous!

Parent

The APPR is capricious and
arbitrary and fails to examine every condition. There are students with
terrible attendance problems. There are
students that have horrible home environments and couldn't care less about
school. There are learning disabled
students for whom a Regents exam is virtually impossible to succeed on. There
are students for whom English is not their native language. The APPR is a broad brush and deals with a
one-size fits all without taking into consideration these various learners.
Perhaps we should find a way to better engage the parents who are not
encouraging academic efforts before we point fingers at the teachers. Thank
you.

Principal

I sincerely believe that we
can use our collective knowledge to develop a
tool to assess, effectively evaluate, and support educational
professionals, if offered the opportunity.
We have so much coming at us at one time, I fear we will lose those
educators who inspire because they feel overwhelmed or under-valued. We need to have system thinkers help with the
implementation, not a post to a website deliver information to staff
developers.

NYC BOE member

As a parent of 3 and a parent
elected school board member in Manhattan,
I applaud the cause and the courage of the principals and others to
stand up to phony ""accountability"" standards and testing
mania which is hurting our kids and schools.

Teacher

I do support your paper, and I especially
believe in points two and three. I teach
ESL and it's hard enough to get teachers to embrace having an English learning
in their classroom without creating an APPR system that will punish them (and
their ESL teacher to boot). What my
students see more of this year is drill and kill and remedial support than the
rich, varied teaching of the past.

Principal

There are many Principal's
serving as both HS and MS or ES/MS/HS is our smaller districts across NYS. The impact on this evaluation process is
significant when you view it from our perspective. What if we are rated as ineffective as a MS
principal and effective as a HS principal?
Where is the fairness in the process when we deal with a moving target
on an annual basis in Mathematics (HS/MS) and ELA (MS)? How are they a valid measure when the school
districts do not even know what is in store for their students. I know it is a guessing game for all but when
you are a small district like us, 2 students make a difference in the overall
outcomes for the school.

"If we want to have top
notch people entering the profession of teaching, we have to stop making
teacher's the scapegoat with high-stakes testing. There are many factors in a child's life that
account for student performance on tests and in school in general that teachers
and principals may not be able to "fix"."

Principal

Teacher compassion and
willingness to work with difficult students is not measured in these test
results. I hate to see the humanity of
our profession end up as roadkill on the highway to APPR and chase for RTTT dollars.